‘Really good’ Chelsea loanee has performed much better than Blues flop this season, Enzo Maresca should have kept him

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Last summer, Chelsea loaned out a lot of their players as they tried to reduce the size of Enzo Maresca’s squad.

The likes of Kepa Arrizabalaga, Raheem Sterling and Andrey Santos all left the club.

With Romeo Lavia picking up more injuries this season, some Chelsea fans wanted to see Santos recalled in January. Strasbourg manager Liam Rosenior has nicknamed Santos “Dunga”, comparing him to the Brazil legend after some of his performances in the current campaign.

Santos is not the only loanee that this Chelsea squad could probably do with right now, though.

• READ MORE: ‘Very solid’ Chelsea player is going to leave the club in the summer, two clubs want to sign him

Kepa Arrizabalaga has outperformed Robert Sanchez this season

You can hardly call Kepa a Chelsea success, hence why he is on loan at Bournemouth today.

Kepa cost Chelsea £71m back in 2018, a record fee for a goalkeeper at the time, but he could not live up to his huge price tag. Compared to Robert Sanchez this season, though, the 30-year-old has done well.

Unlike his compatriot, Kepa has not made too many costly mistakes between the sticks. In total, the Spaniard has made just one error that has led to a goal in the Premier League. In contrast, Sanchez has made five, more than any other shot-stopper bar Ipswich Town’s Arijanet Muric.

Kepa’s save percentage is also slightly higher than Sanchez’s — it is actually the highest in the division — while he has kept more clean sheets as well. The former Athletic Bilbao star has not let in as many goals either, though he has played more games than Sanchez.

Of course, however true it is, to say Maresca should have kept Kepa is hindsight now. After his struggles at Chelsea, few would have predicted him to play so well at Bournemouth. But out of him and Sanchez, there is no doubt that Chelsea fans would choose the former at this moment in time.

Sanchez does not have a lot of supporters at Chelsea right now. Even Gianfranco Zola backed the decision for Sanchez to be dropped in the Blues’ 2-1 win against West Ham United on Monday.

Does Kepa Arrizabalaga have a future at Chelsea?

After a torrid time at Chelsea, Kepa has improved his reputation in England with this loan stint at Bournemouth.

“He made some really good saves throughout the game [against Manchester United],” Troy Deeney said after naming Kepa in his Premier League Team of the Week for BBC Sport on 23 December.

As poor as Sanchez has been, though, the Kepa ship at Chelsea has probably sailed. The Blues have other goalkeepers who can replace the former Brighton & Hove Albion man, such as Filip Jorgensen and Mike Penders, while another shot-stopper could be signed this summer.

Chelsea are interested in Borussia Dortmund’s Gregor Kobel, whose arrival would likely spell the end for Sanchez and finish off whatever slim chance there is of Kepa returning to west London.